To all of our wonderful supporters who helped us raise a whopping $1,320 towards replacing the many trees lost in the December 2013 Jerusalem blizzard, a very big THANK YOU! Because of you, we were able to plant over 500 new saplings and 40 mature trees over the last year.

For those of you who don't know the current Jewish year is a sabbatical year (shmita). This means that it is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the Land of Israel and still observed in contemporary Judaism and by the modern State of Israel. During such a year, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by Jewish law. Accordingly, we are unable to plant any new trees until the Fall which will herald the start of the next Jewish year.

For this reason, we have decided to close this project. Thank you again for your generosity and willingness to help us in our time of need.

If you wish to continue to support us, you may of-course contribute to another of our projects on GlobalGiving.

With deep gratitude and best wishes from the entire team here at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem.

Thanks to wonderful supporters like you, the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem has now raised $850 USD towards replacing the many trees lost in the December 2013 blizzard.

As all the gardeners out there will know, we were unable to plant any new trees during the summer months as conditions are too dry for transplanted trees to survive. Throughout the Fall, we planted single trees here and there where we were confident of their chances of survival. The winter rains have now begun and we are hoping for optimal conditions in which to plant our next round of trees in the Spring. We are also hoping that the unusual weather conditions that led to last year's blizzard will not repeat themselves this year (we are told that this is unlikely as the ferocity of that storm was very unusual for Jerusalem).

We are in need of further funding to purchase more new trees - especially mature trees - because the damage to the Zoo’s vegetation was serious and recovery will take many years unless we can minimize the loss of shade and other benefits that were lost along with the many mature trees that fell in last year's blizzard.

Thanks to your ongoing generosity and support, we are making progress.

Thanks to wonderful supporters like you, the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem has now raised over $800 USD towards replacing the many trees lost in the December blizzard.

As many of you know, because of the conflict with Gaza, Israel experienced a very challenging summer and the Zoo was no exception. Regardless of the conflict, we were unable to plant any new trees during the summer months as conditions are too dry for transplanted trees to survive. However, we are planning to plant more trees as soon as weather conditions allow in the fall.

The good news is that the mature trees that were transplanted in the late Spring have all survived and we look forward to seeing them continue to flourish.

We are in need of further funding to purchase more new trees because the damage to the Zoo’s vegetation was serious and recovery will take many years unless we can minimize the loss. Thanks to all of you, we are getting there!

Thanks to wonderful supporters like you, the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem has raised almost $700 USD towards replacing the many trees lost in the December blizzard.

In recent months, we were able to source another 40 mature trees (mostly olive) from a public space in Jerusalem that was being cleared for development. These trees have found a new home at the Biblical Zoo – some near the Asian Elephant exhibit, some near the Living with the Wolves exhibit, and some near the Noah’s Ark Visitor Center. They are very much needed to replace the shade-providing mature trees that were lost during the blizzard.

The damage to the Zoo’s vegetation was serious and recovery will take many years unless we can purchase more mature trees to replace all of those that were lost. But, thanks to all of you, we are getting there!

Thanks so much for your generosity and support in our time of need. And if you are in the area, come and enjoy all the special summer activities at the Zoo with us!

Thanks to wonderful supporters like you, the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem has raised $600 USD towards replacing the many trees lost in the December blizzard.

The cleanup operation after the blizzard was time-consuming and costly, but we managed it thanks to our dedicated team of staff and volunteers.

And here's some more good news:

With the money received from our GlobalGiving supporters, and the mobilization of our awesome local community who all came together to help us on Israel’s national arbor day (Tu B’Shvat in Hebrew), over 500 saplings have been planted.

In addition, we gained 40 mature multi-stemmed oak trees by saving them from destruction when they were being uprooted for a property development at Tzur Hadassah near Jerusalem.

Keep your eye on the prize –

The damage to the Zoo’s vegetation was serious and recovery will take many years unless we can purchase more mature trees to replace all of those that were lost.

But, thanks to all of you, we are getting there! Thanks so much for your generosity and support in our time of need. Spring colors are blooming all over the Zoo at the moment - come and enjoy them with us!

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